Devices that utilize motor drives to manipulate hair are known, and include hair styling devices as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,378 of Kennedy et al. The Kennedy et al. device performs sequential operations of twisting two bundles of hair at once, followed by cabling of the twisted strands. Hair bundles are engaged by rotatable clamps that are, in turn, mounted on a rotatable platform. There are also commercially available devices modeled after the Kennedy et al. arrangement that have clamps and platform supported on interchangeable heads, with each head supporting a different number of clamps (e.g., three or four). Conair of Greenwich, Conn. markets one such device under the name Quick Braid™ Styling Kit with Ribbon Braider. As well, there are devices known in the art for wrapping hair with cord as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,759 of Chung et al. and in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,615,846 and 6,662,808 of Leason et al.
While these devices permit hair to be manipulated or adorned, they are special purpose devices suitable for only one task. What would be of benefit in the art is a simple yet effective hair braider that permits true plaiting or braiding of hair, that is, weaving of three bundles of hair with and among each other into a plait or braid. The present invention addresses these and other needs.